And I go from this wonderful hour and a half, you know, And meditation or session or yoga class, you know, personal practice to, you know, rushing my kids into school or getting breakfast ready. So, so I do 10 minutes. I have to wake up after , shower sit in a seated meditation. And before I start, I do a little pranayama, a little, actually a Capella Bautista little breath work for like maybe 30 seconds of that, or a minute.

And then it's 10 minutes on my little, everyone says any their wonderful apps. And I actually haven't used one yet sort of insight timer and all these things. But I just use my little crystal bells timer, 10 minutes already set, and I have my meditation cushion, which really makes it such a difference.

And then the last few, sometimes if I have a little more time, I can add another five minutes to it, which is really sort of manifesting or visualizing, you know, and really creating in sort of mental imprint, what either I want my day to look like, or sometimes I'll even have Sort of love-based emotion words that I'll use to create an intention for a period of time that I'm in.

So it can even last for, you know, three months or this month or six months that I'm really, you know, cultivating know whether it's clarity or confidence or ease or gratitude, or, you know, I'll find. Words that are resonating with something that I feel like I'm really ready to, to generate more of in my life.

And so I'll just put a lot of energy, you know, energies follows thoughts. I'll just try to really put my. Mind into good use, you know, so it's like getting it out and then focus it, you know, it was really, we get to choose our thoughts. And so spend, even if it's just a minute after the meditation to say, okay, what quality of thoughts do I want to have?

How do I want to guide my thoughts so that my day can follow that. And, and so that sort of usually is some sort of intention setting for either the day, as I said, or the. Moment of time that I know. Yeah.

Sakiko Reuterskiöld: Yes, well, a couple of things I do basically I fast, so I don't have breakfast. And that is not necessarily a circadian rhythm optimization thing. It's just that I have like to be social and have dinner with friends and so on.
So in order to get that sort of 16 hours of not eating, it's easiest for me to skip. Breakfast. The first thing I do is a bit of yoga, which I've been doing since I was a teenager because I had an Indian family friend who had a yoga, like nobody heard of yoga at that time. Amazing. But he gave me a routine and taught me and I've been doing it ever since.

So I do about a 20 minutes, 15, 20 minutes of yoga. And then I meditate for about 20 minutes. So that's my morning routine.

Mohammed Enayat: It depends on my state, right? So it depends on how I'm feeling, and how I want to feel. So, most mornings, I start with some nice, simple breath work, some box breathing. I try to get out into nature. I do a little bit of grounding. A bit of skipping for five minutes. I don't do anything too aggressive. It depends. It depends if I have the time as well, sometimes I'm time poor, especially with the launch phase right now, then I have to deprioritize my morning routine or limit it, which is not always a great thing, I know, but so for me, what works is breath work, cold shower, try and getting outdoor, whatever the weather, a bit of skipping, get my heart rate going. Then I'll come back and do a cold shower and start my day. I try not to look at emails straight away. Everyone says that. I think that's a really good practice. Try not to look at my emails.

Claudia von Boeselager: Creativity killer, yeah.

Mohammed Enayat: Yeah, and if I, if I sometimes, even taking the train into work, I will have my notebook out and just be journaling, preparing for the day, reflecting on the day that went, at least once a week, that's some of the things that I do.

Claudia von Boeselager: Yeah, that sounds like a-

Mohammed Enayat: Not every single day, you know, but, you know, there are elements of that I do every day.

Claudia von Boeselager: Yeah.

Mohammed Enayat: If that makes sense.

Claudia von Boeselager: Yeah, no, exactly. And I have a particular morning routine, and I really notice if I don't, for whatever reason, manage it or do it, what a difference in the day. And it's almost like you become addicted to actually doing it because it just sets you up to win, right? So I love that.
Dr. Stephanie Manson Brown: So that's a great question. Well, actually, my morning routine has changed significantly since the pandemic.

So before March 2020, I pretty much didn't have a routine because I was traveling so much. And so I, we'd be being a new place, you know, every couple of weeks and living out of hotels. And so now I've been grounded since March, 2020. And it's something I've really actually embraced and I've surprised myself at how adaptable I am to a new routine.

And actually setting down a proper routine. So I start the day now with walking the dogs. It's something that is a really important focus for me, and really gets me off on the right grounding because I think being in nature is incredibly important for me. And there's lots of different studies that have demonstrated that, you know, that can have a positive impact to your general wellbeing and health as well.

And I think there's a recent study that looked at, and I can't think of the group off the top of my head, but they looked at even 10 to 15 minutes being in natural spaces, can improve your mood as well as focusing on some of the psychological markers, like improving blood pressure and heart rate. So that for me is really key.

And I also start the day with a cold shower and there's, again, growing evidence to suggest that this may be linked to mitochondrial biogenesis. And so basically what that means is it's, by increasing the cells energy demand that you're actually triggering off increased mitochondrial activity, which then will help with the overall health of the cells.

So that's something is for me an important, you know, I know you're a big fan of biohacking as well, and so that's been an experiment for me. To see if there's any improvement, and I have to say, I think generally my health is good. I don't know, kind of, whether that's linked to or not, but it's something that I've been reading more on that to kind of incorporate that into my daily routine.

Yeah. So I might fall from grace at this point in the eyes of your listeners, but, to be honest, my day-to-day schedule is so inconsistent that I find it quite difficult to establish a morning routine that I can have every single day.

But I would say one thing that I do on most mornings is I don't eat breakfast. I tend to not be hungry anyway, when I wake up. So it's quite easy to do. So I suppose I am engaging in

Claudia von Boeselager: Intermittent fasting. Is that by choice or it's just that you just don't feel hungry? Or are you doing it specifically for intermittent fasting health benefits?

Mariko Bangerter: Yeah, I think a bit of both. Yeah. I think time-restricted eating really does feel good for me. I also don't eat very late at night, so I try to eat dinner around 5/6pm, and then I find that I sleep better. And so, I think, yeah, narrowing the window where I'm eating really does resonate with me. I would say the other thing that I do on most mornings is I walk my dog, and we live right next to the section of Epping Forest here in East London where there's, you know, woods and lakes just at my doorstep.

So I take a walk around there. And that's always very grounding, and no matter what the weather is, and there's something about even going out, you know, when it's raining, when it's snowing, when there's ice on the ground, and having that interaction with nature, in which it really does bring you to the present moment, make you very aware of the season that you're in.

Claudia von Boeselager: It's very grounding as well, I guess, right?

Mariko Bangerter: Yeah, exactly, very grounding. And I tried to do something that brings me back into my body. So whether it is a little bit of exercise, I really like HIIT workouts because they're just quick and fast, and they get straight to the point. And then, yeah. And then after that, I definitely, I mean, one thing that is consistent, and it's not just to do with my morning, but this is probably the thing that I recommend to anyone, and I think it's probably the most important thing to do in life, is that when I feel an emotion come up, when I feel I'm stuck with a mood or an emotion that's not optimal, then I address it then and there, or as soon as I can. So if having done all of that in my morning, I feel like for some reason I'm just not in a great mood, then I'll go to the room where I tap. And I just, yeah, I spent a few minutes with myself tapping, and I get to a state where I'm feeling much more energized just by that self-tapping.

And it's because it's like, you know, whatever mood you're in, let's say there is a scale, like a wellbeing scale of the different moods that you could be in a day, let's say at the highest part of the scale could be gratitude, joy, deep trust in yourself, a sense of peace and acceptance. And at the lower end of the scale, there could be things like jealousy, doubt, anger, fear, worry. If you're at the bottom end of that scale, that is almost like, whatever mood you're in colors the lens of the glasses you're wearing through which you're perceiving life that day.

And so everything will be colored by that light and that tone. And just by a few minutes that you can invest in yourself to tap on yourself, to just get higher up on that scale, to feel a bit more accepting, or even higher than that, optimistic, whatever, that will completely, and it does, it completely changes the trajectory of that day, and of your life, right? And your life is just an accumulation of the different days.

And so, you know, it could be that on that day, if you hadn't done the tapping, it could be that, you know, a friend calls you for a favor and you decide not to pick up that phone. It could be that if you did do that self-tapping, and you had more energy to yourself, and you feel better, a friend calls you, asks you for help, and you're delighted to help them.
And just imagine the way in which every interaction with every person transforms as a result of you just investing a little bit of time in yourself. So, you know, this is something, I feel like it's almost like a duty in our self, to proactively manage our mental and emotional states. Otherwise it's just like we go throughout life and we're just bouncing off each other, being triggered by each other, being reactive, you know, because we haven't managed our own base levels of stress and emotions.
So I think it's something that we should be learning at schools. I think it's the most important, fundamental, part of world peace, yeah, you know?

I often wake up earlier than I would like to, if I'm honest. I could sleep, I think, till nine o'clock every day, but my life does not allow that to happen. So I usually wake up to an alarm. And I've trained myself, my first thought to be, today is going to be an amazing day. And at the end of our bed we have this piece of art says "happy", it's by an artist called Romero Britto, and it just -

Claudia von Boeselager: I love him.

Jenny Pacey: Makes me smile. He's super fun and colorful.
Claudia von Boeselager: Really cool stuff. I have, actually, something from him..

Jenny Pacey: I have "Love and Laugh" in the kitchen. So they're just little bits that make me smile. So I, kind of, wake up, my first thought is today's gonna be an amazing day. Have a little smile at my happy picture. I always have a shower. I shower so many times a day, it's ridiculous.
But start with a shower. Do my makeup. Do my hair. Have breakfast. Oh, and a cuddle of my new puppy.

Claudia von Boeselager: Congratulations. How sweet.

Jenny Pacey: So for breakfast, I normally start with lemon water. Then my supplements. Then I usually have papaya, which is great for your microbiome and gut health. That's the first thing that I eat with some chia seeds on top. And then I usually have four scrambled eggs with some coconut oil and a cup of tea, and then a cup of coffee.

And then I'm still a bit like a school girl as well. Part of my routine, but night routine. I put all my lycra, I'm in lycra Monday to Friday, I put that out the night before, so that everything's ready so I can hop out the shower and moisturize, get, like, all my clothing on. And then finish my breakfast. And then I'm either online to do training sessions. Or I'm out for a client. Or going to give a motivational speech, or whatever it may be. So that tends to be my morning routine.

And then at the weekend, so I I kind of am disciplined and dedicated and on it Monday to Friday afternoon. And then usually Friday afternoon and all weekend I do a bit more as I wish. Like, I wake up at 9:00, I order a croissant from the bakery around the corner.

We sit and have coffee and cake in the morning. I'll go for a dog walk, go for lunch. So it's about balance for me. But I've got everything usually locked down in the week. And papaya and eggs are key to my morning.

Andy Gupta: Oh yes. It's a new thing. And it's since I've taken the step towards doing something on my own, that I've been able to bring this routine in.
And there are two joys in life for me. And they're simple. I like keeping things simple. It's making my morning coffee with my wife, and enjoying that morning time, with my kids, with my wife, enjoying that morning coffee with her. And then taking one of my kids, depends which one on the day, to school. And the drop off time, drop off and pickups - I like to do both - are one of my most cherished times in a day. And I really, really enjoy it. Holding the little hands, walking with them, hearing whatever's on their mind, and quite often it's hilarious.

Or them practicing the words to a Peppa Pig song. Or Sophia the First song. And I love it. And when I start to do my goofy dance along with them, sometimes they'll encourage it, sometimes they'll shush me and ask me to be quiet. But those are my favorite morning routines.

Dr. Molly Maloof: I definitely have a morning and evening routine, for sure. Morning, I wake up and I lay in bed and do some meditation and body scanning. And just, like, sometimes I'll just like purposely go back into my dream state for lucid dreaming. But most of the time I'm like laying there doing a body scan.
I wake up usually around 6.30. And 7 I'll make either, like, a half-caff coffee, or a matcha, or a MUD\WTR, I've been really into lately. And read the Wall Street Journal. I really love reading the Wall Street Journal because it's just, like, so interesting to see what's going on in the world.

And then I'll go and ride my bike to the gym and lift weights. And I do lift weights about four days a week, these days. And I'm biking, right now, every day. And I just have noticed such a difference in my energy levels by cycling. I've really fallen in love with it in the last couple months.

So those are like, sort of, non-negotiables. And then I'll take my supplements when I get back from working out. If I'm lifting, I'll definitely get protein-rich breakfasts in, and if I'm not lifting and I'm just cycling, I might delay breakfast an hour or so, but generally speaking, I'll eat breakfast around 9-ish..
And then I used to do a lot more fasting, but because I'm doing so much exercise, I'm doing a little bit less fasting, but I still fast at least 12 hours a night. Sometimes longer. Sometimes 14. I'll take my supplements after breakfast and I will shower and start my day.

Dr. Kayla Osterhoff: Yes. And I actually have four different morning routines for each phase of my cycle, of course. But consistently, my morning routines typically include some kind of mindfulness practice. And I always start my day slow. Even if that means it's got to start slow within a five minute period, or it's got to start slow within an hour or two hour period.

But I always start slow. Meaning that, first of all, I don't wake up to a cortisol inducing alarm. I usually, if I have to set an alarm. Then, I will do it to some kind of something that's more soothing, like music or chimes, something like that. And then I don't just hop out of bed and I certainly don't hop on my phone and start checking my emails right away, because all of that will spike your cortisol and cause cortisol dysregulation, which by the way, cortisol regulation is intimately tied with insulin regulation and hormonal production or production of estrogen progesterone. That can be something for another day, but it's really important to have healthy cortisol function, meaning that your cortisol shouldn't peak until, you know, later in the morning. And then from that point, it should steadily decline.

And so having a morning routine that will support that natural cortisol curve is really important. Anytime throughout the cycle.

Jenny Remington-Hobbs: I think it's been an iteration, as with all these things, we never nail it, you know, we never get there. We're always learning, adding in new things. Over-complicating, then throwing the baby out with the bath water. But how we start the day, it's just the most important thing. You know, you wake up every morning and you are pretty much in your beliefs. You know, you're coming through this quagmire into an altered reality because, you know, sleep and wake up different states of consciousness and what you do in that waking up time, how you set the day up and whether you're getting into a creative orientation about trying to connect with what your intentions are and what you'd love to create with the day, or you're getting into a fixing orientation, focusing in on all the problems, all the things that are not going right. I think it starts right up front.

So, for me, I wake up and I get straight into cold water. That is the thing. I literally walk out of my bedroom in my pretty normal teenage grump and I throw myself into some very cold water. And there's nothing quite like that for some state changing. And then it's a little bit of prep work, and this is all, you know, quick and user-friendly. I think all the things that I use are designed for busy people, who are generally parents, who are working or trying to build something. And as you well know, there's a fine balance of quite how much time there is in the day. So I do cold water swimming, I do some breath work, I then do a very brief,, sort of yoga routine that is out on a patio that looks over our amazing view, and that in itself, we live in very big nature, and that just connects me in with everything and that start of the day, you know, with looking over nature. And I listen to, I know this is strange, but I listen to, like, really evocative electronic music whilst I'm doing my yoga - it's quite un-yogi. And I dance and I really get into it. So I'm moving. And it doesn't take very long.

And from there I orientate myself. I connect in with my true nature and that there's nothing to fix. And I get into that energy. And then I connect with what I love. And, as you know, the programs that we create, you end up by the end of having a set of choices that you make about who you are and where you're headed. And so I make my choices, with a lot of emotion. Sometimes I shout them. Sometimes I scream them. Sometimes I dance to them. And by the time my daughter wakes up, and that really doesn't ever take me more than half an hour at max, and I can definitely do it in 15 minutes, I'm ready to rock. I'm in my heart. I'm energized. And it doesn't matter what kind of a funk I woke in. And it doesn't matter what kind of temper tantrum she might throw. I'm there. I'm like, okay, here we are, alive.